Valley Metro was considering allowing Miller and Coors Brewing Co. to sponsor late-night bus and rail service on New Year’s Eve. (It would have meant free rides on buses and light rail and about $55,600 for the sponsorship to transport roughly 41,500 passengers.)

Although Valley Metro spokeswoman Hillary Foose called it a “great benefit” to riders, officials ran into timing issues. They declined the potential sponsorship earlier today.

“It makes a lot of sense,” she said. “We just couldn’t get there in time for this New Year’s Eve.”

That doesn’t rule out 2013, however. The agency will review the proposal again. (Officials cited numerous advantages in a Phoenix City Council memo: guarantees a revenue stream, supports safety messages and eases crowding at ticket vending machines.)

Miller Coors sponsors this type of service in several other cities for various holidays, Foose said.

And, they're no stranger to transit with "silver bullet" wraps on local light rail already.

So what’s the perfect slogan for transit and beer? We like Coors Light “It won’t slow you down.”

The long-time head of an influential Phoenix non-profit is stepping down, but not completely away.

Connie Phillips is executive director of Sojourner Center, one of the largest domestic-violence shelters in the country, according to its website. Phillips has been "the guiding force” behind the center since 1994, the website said. Read more about Phillips here.

She sent a resignation letter to her staff this week.

“I have made the personal decision to leave my position to pursue a desire to be more involved with social justice at a broader level.”

Phillips didn’t share details about her next step in the letter.

Phillips’ replacement has not been made public yet. She told Phx Beat she plans to make the transition by the end of February.

“I am looking forward to working with the board of directors through this transition to new leadership, ensuring that the good work of Sojourner Center continues,” she said.

Phillips will still be a part of the organization she’s been a part of for more than 30 years.

"I will be continuing my support of the Sojourner Center long term as a member of the emeritus board," she said. "I will always hold Sojourner Center in my heart and prayers."

A crowded, heated race for the City Council in south Phoenix’s District 8 is getting under way, with the first contender officially declaring this week.

Kate Gallego, a business liaison for the Salt River Project, announced her candidacy Wednesday, a day after creating her campaign committee. She is the wife of state House Assistant Minority Leader Ruben Gallego, D-Phoenix.

The district’s boundaries, which were redrawn this year after a contentious council vote, encompass much of southeast Phoenix and parts of downtown, including many largely Latino and Black neighborhoods. Councilman Michael Johnson, who has long represented the area, cannot run again because of term limits.

Phoenix will hold a primary election for the seat in August. A runoff election will be held in November if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

Although Gallego is the first candidate to form a committee, several others have made clear their intentions to run for the open seat. The campaign is shaping up to be a highly competitive battle between the area’s political standard bearers.

Former state Rep. Cloves Campbell Jr., publisher of the African-American newspaper The Informant, said he will be a candidate. He served four years in the state House before Ruben Gallego and Rep. Catherine Miranda, D-Phoenix, defeated him in the 2010 Democratic primary for the area’s two seats.

Other potential council candidates include Lawrence Robinson, who this fall was elected to the Roosevelt School District Governing Board; Ben Miranda, a lawyer and former state lawmaker; and Jarrett Maupin Sr., a longtime activist from the area. Several others also could be in the mix.

However, the political heavyweight rumored to be testing the waters for a run, state Sen. Leah Landrum Taylor, D-Phoenix, said definitively that she will not run. She was recently selected as minority leader in the Senate and said she supports Campbell in the council race.

Much of the campaigning is occurring behind the scenes at this point, with contenders locking up endorsements and building their organizations.

But race already has cropped up as an issue. Leaders of the southside African American community said they worry the election could mean the council will no longer have a Black member. The district has for decades been home to the city’s only Black councilman.

“It’s a huge concern,” Landrum Taylor said. “Diversity is very important. I think that’s very important to continue with.”

Kate Gallego, who is White and married to a Latino man, said race should not be a factor in electing the area’s council member. She’s already coming under fire from some leaders who question whether she has community roots and is prepared to represent such a diverse area.

“I don’t think there’s an African-American or Latino way to fill a pothole,” Kate Gallego said. “I’m committed to representing the entire district.”

After speaking at the inauguration of the University of Arizona's first female president Friday, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton spoke of Ann Weaver Hart's commitment to downtown Phoenix.

"She's a powerhouse. She is an intellectual giant with thoughtful ideas, and I’ve personally seen her operate,” he said. “We’re in the final details of the cancer center partnership between St. Joe’s (hospital) and U of A that’s going to be in the heart of the city.”

Construction on the University of Arizona Cancer Center was supposed to begin in 2011, according to their website, but there's nothing on the site at the northwest corner of Fillmore and Seventh streets.

“We had to make some changes in light of the economic downturn,” Stanton told PhxBeat.

The project will cost $100 million and be 230,000-square-foot outpatient clinic will be on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus and is scheduled to open by 2015. Check the Saturday Arizona Republic for an updated story about it.

The U of A Cancer Center will be financed through gifts and university-issued bonds. Phoenix committed $14 million to the center for design, construction and other costs for the clinic.

Stanton said the city plans to make a major announcement related to the center soon.

“The groundbreaking will be early next year,” Stanton said. “This level of science and research is going to be second none.”

Two Phoenix councilmen from opposite sides of the political spectrum are teaming up to propose changes aimed at beefing up the city’s trading relationship with Mexico.

Councilmen Michael Nowakowski, a prominent leader in the Latino community, and Sal DiCiccio, a vocal conservative and developer, are calling for the creation of an ad-hoc committee of private-sector and government leaders to review the issue and recommend reforms. They want the committee in place by Jan. 1.

The unlikely duo outlined the proposal Wednesday in a memo sent to Mayor Greg Stanton, asking him to place the idea on the agenda for an upcoming council meeting. Nowakowski and DiCiccio requested to co-chair the group.

“What we’ve both agreed on is that this needs to be a private-sector plan,” DiCiccio said, adding that the pair have careers in the private sector. “We both understand business.”

Their memo to Stanton outlines several potential actions to improve trade relations, including establishing a trade office for the city in Mexico and vice versa, developing an additional foreign-trade zone near downtown to lure foreign businesses and launching a marketing campaign encouraging private investment.

Nowakowski said the state is not receiving it’s “fair share” of trade from Mexico. He said while Texas has established itself as the nation’s primary trade hub with Mexico, Phoenix could distinguish itself as the hub for goods coming in and out of the southwest.

It wasn’t immediately clear where Stanton stands on the committee proposal., though he has often been a vocal advocate of bolstering trade relations with Mexico. A spokeswoman said the mayor would not comment until he’s discussed the issue with DiCiccio and Nowakowski.

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